A journey to become human
by Ark19
Summary: Sometimes we forget, sometimes we keep living without reason aside from surviving. For a conman, life is nothing but staying alive for the next day. But a meeting with a vastaya who has nine tails sends him on a road to help her. Because maybe in helping her become human, he might become human himself.


**I really needed to get this one out of my head so I could focus back on Therapy for Champions. Sadly aside of being busy sometimes I find myself blocked out when I got an idea jumping around and I need to get rid of it in order to keep working. This story will be heavy and funny at times.**

 **Now, I probably will update this one weekly. No promises though, you know me by now. So let us go!**

 **A journey to become human.**

 _My only wish… was to be like them. To be accepted. However, in the end, I became an outcast…_

 **Prologue: The conman and the fox.**

They say a man greed knows no bounds. That the spirit that allows them to keep getting better was the greed for riches, to become better and get more things to fill the greed that knew no bounds.

Alister would partially agree. It was not greed what pushed people forward. It was hunger and thirst. Survival itself, the wish to keep living pushed anyone to do more and those who abused what they already had would get their punishment later.

He liked to believe he was that punishment.

"Come forward, my friends! Please do come and enjoy having your fortune read!" He spoke with a voice full of wonders, trying to captivate them into coming to see him. The people that moved along the market

The figure was covered in a hood that hid his face, his physique while hidden under the hood seemed to be a slender one. He wasn't tall but no one cared for his physique, they cared about the knowledge he had.

The people already knew of the infamous fortuneteller. His fortunes always ended up happening, and while in many cases one would love to learn of their fortune, there was always an eerie feeling in approaching him. For no fortune of his ever went wrong.

So many approached him in the first times he appeared. Now only few would dare ask him anything. Mostly the fishers of the town would come to him to ask if their trip would be a safe one. He would nod or tell them to avoid the sea for a few days.

So far the small fishing town in the land of Ionia was one who lacked accidents as it seemed their people were being kept safe by the fortune teller.

This called the attention of course of others who thought it would be fun to learn their fortunes. They would call him a fraud or say nothing would happen until the fortunes he mentioned ended up happening.

His supernatural ability became something to be respected and feared.

Alister would only laugh inside.

He was a fraud after all.

He wasn't seeing the future so much as he knew how to learn to read the weather, to know when a man was sick by seeing his eyes and his hands, to understand the signals in plain sight.

A young man forced to survive had to adapt, and he ended up adapting becoming able of reading people like open books, knowing when they were lying, knowing when they were hiding something when they were honest and so on. He became an expert on people.

The money from the reading of fortunes paid for food and shelter.

But it by no means made him less of an outcast. The people in the town respected him and kept distance. But it was a respect out of fear. And the last thing he wanted was for people to be afraid of him. He only wanted the same comradery he saw the people had all the time. When they were drinking, eating, chatting. They were friends.

He had none. He was simply the town fortuneteller who never failed.

A lonely one.

He decided today was one of those days he would simply go walk around. He needed the distraction.

He walked through the fishing town until he ended up getting to the outer part of the town, he would often walk around it. Mostly because in the night it offered a lot of relaxation as no one walked near. Mostly because the things going around in Ionia.

He might not know how to read or write. But he didn't need to know.

He heard the people speaking of the Golden Demon, Zed order of shadows, the Dark Empress, and the general mess of the Ionian Elders…

"Hard times to be in…"

* * *

As he kept walking through the green plains outside of the fishing town he looked at the moon, half and yet making his path clear as if it was the middle of the day.

When he heard the ruffling in the grass he knew that as his cue to leave.

"Sorry, would you mind telling me where is the closest town?"

A feminine voice one that could be called sultry asked. Many men would immediately go for the chance to speak with such a woman.

He wasn't one of those. He knew things like those could get you killed. And so he kept walking while answering back.

"Follow the road and read the signs, you won't miss it"

He heard what seemed to be a sigh before it turned to giggles and he heard the voice speaking behind of him.

"Would you mind reading them for me?"

The voice soft as silk seemed to try to up the feelings to make him help. But he wasn't one to help. He had been alive through plain understanding.

"As I can't read, I will have to say no"

He said trying to make the finality in his voice obvious. He didn't want to speak with the woman and so kept walking. But the next sound he heard coming from her wasn't the usual sound a woman would make. A growl. To be more exact. The growls animals could do.

But that would be impossible.

He was proud of his abilities in taking notice of his surroundings. He was alive because of that. So he took note fast about everything so far.

The woman didn't sound like she carried an animal with her. He only heard the rustling in the grass in the sound of steps, the steps of one person only. She was a woman judging by her voice, one that wasn't afraid of using her charm to make people do work for her. But she didn't carry an animal, nor did he heard steps…

She was the animal…

Vastaya!

He was told to avoid them at all costs. Now he was in the presence of one.

"…You are not human"

He spoke silently to himself, but he heard the gasping sound behind him. Against all instincts he looked behind him and took to see a hooded figure in a cape. Taller than him, and the hood was obviously hiding a lot.

"What gave it away…"

The figure seemed to approach him slowly. He tried to step back for each step she made forward.

"Your growl… no human growl like that… you are a Vastaya… so why are you not with them?"

The figure seemed to look down for a moment.

"I am not… well received with other vastayas"

She undid the hook from her cape revealing the figure of a woman with whiskers, nine tails and ears. He knew who this was.

"The Nine Tailed Fox…"

Few who had seen her had lived to tell the tale. They said she fed on the live of others to keep herself young, others said she fed on the lives to become human. But in the end. All the tales had the same part.

She killed humans.

"…I came to look for a fortune teller… if you tell me where to find him I will leave you alone"

She smiled. And he felt a shiver go in his back. He knew that smile. He had seen it before. The smile of someone who is obviously lying and making a poor work to hide it. So it was time to play the card of the honesty.

"You are looking at him… you wish for your fortune?"

The woman immediately nodded and her ears perked up as she walked faster to him. He did the same backward as to make sure the distance remained constant.

"Don't you need to be close to me?"

She asked with curiosity after stopping herself. He did the same and denied with his head.

"I don't need to be close. I only need to hear the question, the rest comes to me"

He tried to play his role as best as he could. He was used to playing the role of the fortuneteller. And the woman seemed to simply accept it.

She smiled and spoke her question.

"I wish… I wish to know if I will become human, to be able to live in peace with them"

She asked with a voice that broke something inside of him.

 _I wish to know if I will be able to live like them…to be part of them. Can I live like them? Do I belong to them? What can I do?_

* * *

The silence stretched into the night as Ahri emotion seemed to go down waiting for the answer of the fortuneteller. She was about to ask when he spoke.

"No. You can't become human"

Sadness washed over her at the blunt answer. She was about to get angry and ask why when the fortuneteller spoke.

"But you can live near them! Maybe not in Ionia, but somewhere out there is a place for people like us!"

She noticed the sudden burst of emotion coming from the hooded figure.

"Us?"

He nodded under the hood.

"Us, I will help you find that place Nine Tailed Fox, we will find a place where you can live with humans, you might not be able to become one of them, but somewhere… there is a place you can live with them"

She perked up and ended up smiling. An honest smile, not the sort she used to fool others. But the one she hoped to use with humans when she lived with them.

"Ahri, my name is Ahri… so who are you? Calling you fortuneteller is sort of long"

The figure nodded and removed its hood, showing a face Ahri thought was more feminine than manly with long hair and hazel eyes behind glasses.

"My name is Alister, and we will be making a trip then"

He walked forward and offered his hand to her.

She didn't understand what he wanted until he spoke.

"Humans shake hands to make deals and promises, and that's what I am making here. A promise to help you find your place in the world, by the end you might become human"

He spoke with conviction.

Ahri didn't got why he was helping her. But she would believe in him. With a smile and a nod she took his small hand with both of hers.

"Let us go then!"

* * *

Ahri.

She was just like he was.

Memories of a long past and dark times came to him. He might had lost his chance to find a place, to be one of the many, but she would not. Not if he could help her.

He was different from the child he used to be.

He might not know how to read or write. But he knew way more than he knew back then. And he would help Ahri fulfill her goal. A goal similar to his in which he failed.

"Well. Where do you wish to go first then?"

Ahri smiled but her words didn't work with her expression.

"I got no idea where to go"

It would be a long journey for both of them.

He would help Ahri become human. And maybe… just maybe. He would become human too by the end of their journey. Time would tell. But for now he would need to learn where to go…

* * *

 **Cut! Well this was a funny one to make, now back to my work! Hope you all enjoy it! If you all do want more of this well please go ahead and say it, I will be seeing ya all next time with chapter 1.**

 **Chapter 1.- The first step.**


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